Researchers from the Nutrigenomics and Fish Pathology Groups of Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal have published in Microbiome how a dietary additive can restore the intestinal microbiome and improve resistance to diseases in teleost fishes fed with vegetable diets.

The PhD student Lourenço Ramos Pinto from the Group of Fish Nutrition and Immunobiology of CIIMAR (University of Porto) and SPAROS Lda. (Algarve, Portugal) has conducted a short stage of 2 weeks with the Nutrigenomics and Fish Growth Endocrinology Group (Institute of Aquaculture Torre la Sal, IATS-CSIC) within the framework of the ALISSA (Bases para uma alimentação saudável e sustentável para peixes de aquaculture) project.

Over his stage the multivariate analysis of the effect of amino acid supplementation on the molecular signatures of tissue-specific markers of growth and immunological status of fish fed plant-based diets has been completed.

Dr. Erick Perera Bravet and Dr. Juan Antonio Martos Sitcha have been granted with Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación postdoctoral contracts from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. They will re-join the Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal within the Fish Pathology and Nutrigenomic and Fish Growth Endocrinology Groups, respectively, and they will develop their research activity in several National (Mi2-fish and PROGENSA-III) and European (ParaFishControl, AQUAEXCEL2020 and PerformFISH) projects currently undergoing.

Researchers of Nutrigenomics and Pathology Groups of Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal, in collaboration with the companies NOREL and EVONIK, evaluated the potential benefits of two commercially available feed additives, one based on medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) from coconut oil and another a Bacillus-based probiotic (B. amyloliquefaciens CECT 5940), in gilthead sea bream, a marine farmed fish of high value for the Mediterranean aquaculture.

This study showed differential beneficial effects induced by these dietary supplements: MCFAs exhibited a great growth-promoting action while the Bacillus-based probiotic revealed promising effects on immune maintenance and disease resistance in a farmed fish.

PhD student Renato Ferraz, from the Nutrition, Growth and Quality of Fish Research Group of CIIMAR (Centro Interdisciplinar De Investigação Marinha E Ambiental, Portugal) is having an AQUAEXCEL2020 TNA stay with the IATS Nutrigroup during November.

The IMPROV-SEABASS TNA is aimed to address the effects of dietary Gracilaria sp. supplementation on the response of European sea bass to a bacterial challange by means of specific PCR-arrays designed with genes involved the lipid metabolism, mitochondrial activity and biogenesis, oxidative stress and immune response, among others.

Researchers of Nutrigenomics Group (Jaume Pérez Sánchez, Josep Alvar Calduch-Giner, Juan Antonio Martos-Sitcha) have participated in the second annual meeting of AQUAEXCEL2020 EU project, organized by CCMAR at Faro (Portugal) on 6-9 November

Main progress so far for remote fish monitoring is presented by researches of CSIC (CNM-Barcelona; IATS-Castellón) and University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) in the workshop of WP8 "Biosensors for remote fish monitoring"

A coordinated research by two institutes from CSIC-Spain, the Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía (ICMAN) and the Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal (IATS), depicted the daily rhythms of whole gilthead sea bream larvae and provides tools to refine culture practices and establish novel quality criteria/certificate for larvae

Fast growth of gilthead sea bream larvae occurs greatly because of a high synchronization among several biological processes through the day

Prof. Jaume Pérez-Sánchez was invited to give the closing lecture of the XI Congress of the Iberian Association for Comparative Endocrinology, held at Vigo (Spain) on July 13-15. The conference was entitled "Integrative "omic" approaches to improve fish nutrition and individual phenotyping" and presented recent advances in the combined use of targeted and untargeted approaches for the risk assessment of food safety and fish health and welfare, exploring also new approaches for remote and non-disturbing fish monitoring.

We acknowledge the Congress Organizing Committee for this successful meeting. Nutrigroup has participated in this Congress with this invited closing lecture, 3 oral presentations and 5 posters. Some of these works are derived from collaborations with the University of Barcelona, ICMAN-CSIC, and University of Cádiz.

PhD student Isabel Forner, from the Department of Life Sciences and the Environment of the Università Politécnica delle Marche (Italy) is having an AQUAEXCEL2020 TNA stay with the IATS Nutrigroup during May and June.

The DISRUPBREAM TNA is aimed to characterize the effects of endocrine disruptors on the expression of genes involved in obesity, reproductive capacity and endocannabinoid system in different tissues of gilthead sea bream.

The PhD Student Mar Marcos from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (Ireland) has concluded a four-weeks stay in the Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal (IATS-CSIC, Castellón, Spain) within the transnational access entitled “Study of genes involved in the epithelial and mucous cell hyperplasia occurring in gills of farmed Atlantic salmon during amoebic gill disease –AGDBIOMAR” financed by the European Project AQUAEXCEL2020.

The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers of Nutrigenomics and Pathology Groups of IATS

The first follow-up meeting of PROGENSA III Project (2016-2018), organized by APROMAR/REMA, was held at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (April 5, 2017).

The Project, coordinated by Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), is financed by the National Aquaculture Plans of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment with the help of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

The meeting was attended by researchers from the ULPGC, IFAPA, IEO-Murcia, UPC and IATS-CSIC, together with representatives of sector companies of Cantabria, Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia, Baleares and Canarias, that discussed the work plan and expected results of the gilthead sea bream genetic selection program that began in 2009 and has its continuity in PROGENSA III.

The IATS-CSIC Research Group participates in this Project with researchers from the Nutrigenomics and Fish Pathology Groups who will evaluate, with families selected by ULPGC and IFAPA, the effects of nutrition x genome interaction on growth, conversion efficiency and disease resistance in a model of parasitic enteritis with E. leei.

The larval cultures for the studies of nutrition x genome interaction at IATS-CSIC are being carried out in the facilities of the IEO of Murcia. The culture start at IATS is planned for June-July 2017.

Researchers of Nutrigenomics and Fish Growth Endocrinology Group of IATS in collaboration with the Institute of Waters and Pesticides of the University Jaume I of Castellón analysed by high resolution liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry the serum metabolome of farmed gilthead sea bream.

More than 15,000 m/z ions were identified in the serum of gilthead sea bream. Among them, 850 features were discriminant of fed and short-term fasted fish, helping to identify sensitive and robust metabolite markers of malnutrition in farmed fish.

Further studies are underway to determine the potential of this powerful methodological approach, alone or in combination with other omics approaches, for the discovery and validation of new biomarkers of nutritional status in a wide-range of physiological conditions arising with the advent of feed additives and new fish feed formulations.

The results have been published in the Open-access Journal PeerJ. Read more....

Researchers of Pathology and Nutrigenomics groups of Instituto de Acuicultura Torre de la Sal (IATS-CSIC) in collaboration with University of Insubria (Italy) and Institute of Marine Research of Matre (Norway) have characterized the proteome of the skin mucus of giltheand sea bream.

This study revealed the presence of more than 2,000 proteins, some of them highly regulated in a model of chronic stress mimicking daily aquaculture activities.

Researchers of Pathology and Nutrigenomics groups of Instituto de Acuicultura Torre de la Sal (IATS-CSIC) in collaboration with Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (IIM-CSIC), University of Murcia and Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) have characterized and elucidated the regulation of different immunoglobulins (membrane and secreted IgM and IgT isoforms) in gilthead sea bream challenged with virus, bacteria or parasites.

This study is of relevance for the future vaccination programs and the prognosis of disease outcomes in fish with different nutritional background.

The PhD student Lourenço Ramos Pinto, from SPAROS Lda. and the Group of Fish Nutrition and Immunobiology (CIIMAR-University of Porto) will conduct a two-month stage with the Nutrigenomics and Fish Growth Endocrinology Group (Institute of Aquaculture Torre la Sal, IATS-CSIC), within the framework of National (ALISSA: Bases para uma alimentação saudável e sustentável para peixes de aquacultura” and EU (MIRACLES:Multi-product integrated biorefinery of algae: from carbon dioxide and light energy to high-value specialties) Projects.

Over his stage the effect of amino acids and algae supplementation on markers of fish growth and health performance will be analyzed using the Sea bream PCR-array platform of Nutrigenomics group.

Congratulations!Your paper is one of the 5 most highly cited papers published in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part D: Genomics and Proteomics

Dear Dr. Pérez-Sánchez,

The editors of Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part D: Genomics and Proteomics are delighted to inform you that your paper, Dietary oils mediate cortisol kinetics and the hepatic mRNA expression profile of stress-responsive genes in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) exposed to crowding stress. Implications on energy homeostasis and stress susceptibility, published in 2013 is one of the most highly cited papers during 2014, 2015 and up until June 2016. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for publishing with us and to congratulate you.

The Tasks conducted by IATS aimed to study the nutrition x genome interaction to evaluate the effects of genetic background and the new diet formulations based on ARRAINA diets upon key performance indicators, including the different susceptibility to parasitic enteritis.

The Project is coordinated by the University of Las Palmas with the participation of CSIC, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Instituto de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera y Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena.

The EU-funded ARRAINA (Advanced Research Initiatives for Nutrition & Aquaculture) project has published a new resource for aquaculture feed producers, entitled “Understanding Biomarkers in Fish Nutrition”. The technical content is prepared by CSIC with contributions from other ARRAINA partners (NIFES, INRA, NARIC, ULPGC, USI, CCMAR).

The objective of this booklet is to provide a reliable set of biomarkers and associated methodologies to assess the nutritionally mediated effects on growth performance, metabolic homeostasis, stress responsiveness and health condition of fish which are fed new diet formulations from early life stages to completion of production cycle and sexual maturation. Of particular value are predictive and non-invasive biomarkers available at a relatively low cost, although the combination of conventional and omics approaches is emerging as a user-friendly option.

This booklet is specifically aimed at scientists and feed producers, but it also targets other industrial segments (e.g. fish farmers, feed additives companies, retailers) and individuals interested in gaining further knowledge of the physiological consequences of the raw materials that are currently used in the feeds of farmed fish. The species focussed on by the ARRAINA project are: Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, common carp, European sea bass and gilthead sea bream.

This booklet is the final in a series of three technical booklets on the nutrition and feeding of fish farmed in Europe, and has been produced under the framework of the European Union FP7 funded ARRAINA project. The aim is to make these booklets widely available both to targeted stakeholders and society in general, in order to raise awareness of the science-based knowledge supporting the development of high quality, safe, and environmentally sustainable aquaculture feeds.

The first two ARRAINA technical booklets were focused on feed ingredients and nutrient requirements, and are available at www.aquatt.ie and can also be requested from the dissemination task leader Cliona Ní Cheallacháin, AquaTT (cliona@aquatt.ie).

Researchers of Nutrigenomics and Pathology Groups of Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal, in collaboration with scientific (Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centro de Ciências do Mar) and industrial (BIOMAR, NOREL) partners, showed within the AQUAEXCEL and ARRAINA EU projects that butyrate supplementation helps to preserve intestinal function in fish fed plant-based diets.

Researchers from the Nutrigenomics and Fish Growth Endocrinology Group have participated in the Annual Meeting of AQUAEXCEL2020 EU Project held in Heraklion (Crete, October 11-14th). Prof. Jaume Pérez, leader of the WP8, outlined the progress made during the first year of Project in the prototype of the implantable biosensor for remote fish monitoring that is being built and validated in collaboration with the Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona (IMB-CNM - CSIC), the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) and the Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR). In addition, it was reported the progress in the implementation of the WP6 experiments in which our Group is also involved.

The work conducted in collaboration with other industrial (BIOMAR, NOREL) and research (INRA, NIFES, CCMAR) partners of ARRAINA EU project addressed the effects of plant-based diets on growth performance and reproductive performance, food safety, intestinal health and disease outcome in fish challenged with the intestinal parasite Enteromyxum leei.

Researchers from the Nutrigenomics and Fish Endocrinology Group, led by Professor Jaume Pérez-Sánchez, have signed a new contract with companies NOREL and BIOMAR, to validate a second generation of fish feed additives. The aim is to improve key performance indicators in aquaculture such as growth, risk of oxidative stress and intestinal health.

Professor Jaume Pérez-Sánchez presented an invited talk, entitled "Functional plasticity of the intestine of Mediterranean farmed fish to cope with environmental and nutritional stressors" at the 8th International Symposium of Fish Endocrinology that was held in Gothenburg (sweden).

This review results from the collaboration between the Fish Pathology Group and the Nutrigenomics and Fish Endocrinology Group of IATS. It is part of a special issue of the journal Developmental and Comparative Immunology devoted to Intestinal Immunity, edited by Geert F. Wiegertjes y Won-Jae Lee. You can have free access to this article following this link.

The Research Scientist (PhD) Juan Fuentes, from Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMar, Universidade do Algarve, Portugal), has concluded a two-weeks stay in the IATS facilities within the transnational access entitled “Electrophysiological testing of intestinal function and integrity in sea bream with different nutritional background (INTEBREAM)” financed by the European Project AQUAEXCEL2020. The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers of Nutrigenomics and Pathology Groups of IATS and aimed to underline the potential use of electrophysiology techniques to evaluate intestinal integrity and functionality in fish with different nutritional backgrounds. We hope his stay in our Group has been satisfactory.

The PhD student Emilio J. Vélez, from the Group of Regulation and Optimization of Fish Growth for Aquaculture (Dpt. Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology at University of Barcelona), has concluded a three-weeks stage with the Nutrigenomics and Fish Growth Endocrinology Group, within the framework of the projectsMOCD“Modelos para la optimización del crecimiento de la dorada, AGL2012-39768” and Crecedorada “Hacia la mejor relación GH/IGF: los secretagogos, el modelo del ejercicio y su relación con la alimentación en dorada y en lubina, AGL2015-70679-R”. Over this period, he has performed radioimmunoassays for the measurement of plasma levels of GH and IGF-I in gilthead sea bream from different experiments. This is another example of the long and fruitful scientific cooperation between the Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal-CSIC and the Faculty of Biology at University of Barcelona.

NOREL company has signed a new technological support contract with IATS Nutrigenomics and Pathology groups, in order to evaluate the effects of two feed additives, the prebiotic DICOSAN and the probiotic ECOBIOL on growth and health paremeters of cultured gilthead sea bream.

On February 15th, 2016, Dr. Juan Antonio Martos Sitcha joined the Nutrigenomics and Fish Growth Endocrinology Group (Nutrigroup, Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC) with a Juan de la Cierva-Formación post-doctoral contract from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. His work is framed in the European project AQUAEXCEL2020, aiming to define and validate new cellular markers related to hypoxia and aerobic/anaerobic metabolism of cultured fish. Juan Antonio has a Degree in Marine Sciences and Master of Science in Aquaculture and Fisheries at the University of Cádiz. He performed his PhD thesis on the physiological and endocrine processes related to osmoregulation and stress pathways in the gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) thanks to a fellowship for the Preparation of University Professors (FPU) from the Spanish Ministry of Education, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Juan Miguel Mancera Romero (University of Cádiz), Dr. Gonzalo Martínez Rodríguez (Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía, ICMAN-CSIC, Cádiz) and Dr. Juan Fuentes Díaz (Centro de Ciências do Mar, CCMAR, Faro, Portugal).

PhD student Augusto Queiroz, from University of Porto (Portugal) has concluded a two-weeks stay in the IATS within a transnational access financed by European Project AQUAEXCEL. Hi has conducted gene expression studies in sea bream to underline the potential benefits of the macroalgae Gracilaria when added to fish feeds.

On January 15th, 2016, Verónica de las Heras Rodríguez joined the Nutrigenomics and Fish Growth Endocrinology Group (Nutrigroup, Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal, IATS-CSIC) with an employment contract for Technical and Professional Activities, and her work in the Nutrigroup is framed in the European project ARRAINA, aimed to identify and validate new biomarkers related to growth, quality, health and animal welfare regulated by nutritional factors. She is Technician in Aquaculture Production, Degree in Marine Sciences and Master of Science in Aquaculture and Fisheries at the University of Cádiz. Verónica performed her Master Thesis about the culture optimization of the thick-lipped grey mullet (Chelon labrosus) thanks to an employment contract framed in the project “Optimization of the maturation and spawning processes in the mullet Chelon labrosus” co-financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and the European Social Found, under the supervision of Dr. Gonzalo Martínez Rodríguez and Prof. Dr. Manuel Yúfera Ginés (Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía, ICMAN-CSIC, Cádiz). After that (2013-2015), she was hired by the private company Futuna Blue S.A. as main responsible of auxiliary crops and technical support in larval first feeding of different fish species, as tuna (Thunnus thynnus), greater hamberjack (Seriola dumerili) and Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis).

Nutrigenomics group researchers have held a meeting with NOREL company to analyze the results of ECOSAN Project. This project has evaluated the effects of medium-chain fatty acids from coconut oil (DICOSAN) and the probiotic ECOBIOL on growth and biomarkers of oxidative stress and immune response.

The kickoff meeting of Project ASSESSFEED was held in Olhão (Portugal) in November 24-25. ASSESSFEED is an ARRAINA-funded project that serves as a proof of concept of biomarkers already established in gilthead sea bream to assess fish nutritional condition and performance, extending these results to salmon in experimental farmed cages. Nutrigroup participates in this project together with SPAROS Ltd (Portugal) and GIFAS (Norway).

ARRAINA project was present with a presentation and an event booth in the Bioeconomy Investment Summit (Brussels, November 9-19), an event for identifying ways to mobilize private and public investment for bioeconomy. A brochure was distributed to visitors with the key achievements to date in this Project. The document can be downloaded here; the first two key achievements have been led by our group: the biomarker database and the online tool to predict fish fillet fatty acid composition.

PhD Student Carla Olate has finished a five-months stay in our group, funded by CONICYT (Chile). During her stay she has studied the benefit effects of macroalgae encapsulates on health and welfare of cultured gilthead sea bream. We wish she had profited her stay and the best for the future.

Paula Simo, licensed in Biology by the UAB, started her Ph.D. in the Nutrigenomics group within the framework of Mi2FISH Project "Integrative phenotyping for the improvement of fish feed efficiency and production: unravelling metabolic, intestinal and immunopathological status, AGL2013"

Researchers of Nutrigenomics and Pathology groups of IATS-CSIC have participated in the third annual meeting of ARRAINA EU Project.

The IATS-CSIC is the leader of WP1 "identification and validation of fish biomarkers of diagnostic and predictive value" and have already published more than 20 SCI articles with a high impact index (> 2.5).

The meeting included the visit to the experimental facilities of the Spin-off SPAROS.

The Ph Student Pablo Santibañez from the Austral University of Chile has finished your 10 weeks stage with the Nutrigenomics Group of the Institute of Aquaculture of Torre la Sal. Over this period, it has work with new tools on genomics and proteomics within the framework of current National (Mi2-Fish) & EU (ARRAINA) Projects.

ARRAINA will host a session on fish nutrition at the Aquaculture Europe conference (AE2014) in San Sebastián, Spain, later this year. On Thursday the 16th October 2014, in the morning session the ARRAINA team will provide stakeholders and interested parties with the opportunity to learn more about the current and expected results of the ARRAINA project.

The event entitled "Research Infrastructures:adding value to European aquaculture industry" will provide a space for collaboration and interaction between the project’s partners and an audience primarily drawn from industry. The workshop will focus on presenting achievements and results of the AQUAEXCEL project which can positively contribute to the enhancement of aquaculture in Europe and which are demonstrably beneficial to the aquaculture industry.

We say goodbye to students Debora D'Angelo and Alessandro de Ambrosi from the Università degli Studi dell'Insubria (Italy), after their five months (May-September) ERASMUS stay at IATS facilities and laboratories. Debora´s work has been focused on the molecular and functional characterization of the gilthead sea bream intestinal mucus proteome, Alessandro´s in the molecular identity and expression of metabolic sensors and growth factors in gilthead sea bream. Their stays have been mastered by Dr. Ariadna Sitjà and Prof. Jaume Pérez, respectively. We hope they profited and enjoyed their stays with us as much as we did from their company and assistance. We wish them the best in their future careers. Arrivederci!

PhD student Rita Azeredo, from CIIMAR (Portugal) has concluded a six-week stay in IATS experimental facilities and laboratories, within two transnational accesses (experimental-TNA-EXP- and analytical-TNA-ANA-, respectively) financed by European Project AQUAEXCEL. During her stay, supervised by Dr. Ariadna Sitjà (TNA-EXP) and Professor Jaume Pérez (TNA-ANA), she has conducted studies on the effect of dietary L-arginine supplementation on the immune response, the gene expression profile of the immune system and disease resistance of European sea bass.

The third Newsletter of the European Project AQUAEXCEL (available here) presents the bioinformatic tool Fish and Chips for meta-analysis of fish microarray experiments. This tool has been built in collaboration with the group of Professor Patrick Prunet (INRA-Rennes). An application of this tool has also been reported in a recent publication in the journal Marine Biotechnology.

Former Head of IATS Animal Facility for more than 20 years (1990-2010), Juan Antonio Rielo Zurita, defended his PhD thesis entitled “Desarrollo de un modelo matemático para la evaluación del proceso de crecimiento y engorde en los cultivos comerciales de dorada (Sparus aurata)” at the University of Valencia. The work has been supervised by Jaume Pérez Sánchez and José Pertusa Grau.

Dr Simona Rimoldi, from Biotechnology and Life Sciences department of Insubria University (Italy) has finished an one month stay at IATS facilites, supported by an European Project AQUAEXCEL transnational acces. During her stay, under supervision of Dr Josep Calduch and Professor Jaume Pérez Sánchez, she has conducted gene expression analyses of genes related to lipid metabolism in European sea bass.

Radio interview (Españoles en la Mar, Radio Exterior de España) with Professor Jaume Pérez Sánchez about the characterization of mucins in gilthead sea bream and relevance for aquaculture (interview audio starts at 23:50)

Dr Fabian Grammes, from Aquaculture Protein Centre of Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Norway) has finished a two months stay at IATS facilities, supported by an European Project AQUAEXCEL transnational access. During his stay, supervised by our group, he has conducted analyses for the determination of effects of butyrate-supplemented diets in gilthead sea bream.